Full House for the 2016 Youth Showcase Awards

Mole Valley’s Youth Showcase Awards ceremony on Friday 18th March at Dorking Halls was a huge success, with full house of over 700 guests. Now in its twelfth year, hosted by Mole Valley’s Youth Council, Youth Voice and supported by Mole Valley District Council (MVDC), this Oscar-style event recognises the achievements of young people in the district and those working with young people.

The theme of the event was an evening at the Proms and the Grand Hall was decorated in vibrant colours as guests from all over the County came to recognise the outstanding achievements within Mole Valley. The event was a huge success and raised over £560 for the charity Surrey Young Carers. Lisa Roberts from Surrey Young Carers was delighted and said: “Surrey young carers would like to thank Mole Valley Youth Voice for nominating us as their charity this year. We all had a fantastic time at the awards evening last Friday and are so grateful to everyone who donated. Surrey young carers works with approximately 2000 young carers. All the money raised will be going to further support these wonderful young people who often have a tough time with their caring responsibilities. We aim to provide them with some ‘time out’ from their caring responsibilities, so they can get to enjoy things that other young people do.”

Guests enjoyed music and dance performances from a diverse range of artists, including 2 bands, Blind Summit and Mark the Skyline, the Mezzo Choir, Box Hill Dance Company, the City of London Freemen’s School Jazz House Band, Evie King and 2 instrumentalists, Emily Trubshaw and Ffion Haffenden.

There were 77 nominees in total, all in contention for a diverse range of awards. Interspersed with the awards were readings from the finalists of the Junior Youth Voice 500 words competition. Seven awards in total were handed out throughout the evening including:

• The Creativity Award which went to Sarah Etherington for her spectacular achievements in the field of music- Sarah’s award was presented by Daisy Dunn – local author and leading authority on ancient Roman poetry

• The Teamwork Award went to the St. Nicholas Youth Group for their amazing fundraising effort to enable them to visit Zambia to work in a slum school

• The Outstanding Achievement Award was awarded to Julian Race for battling against Brittle Bone Syndrome and striving to make his dream of becoming a pilot a reality

There was also an inspirational art exhibition, showcasing the talents of pupils from local secondary schools.

Councillor James Friend, Leader of Mole Valley District Council said: “The nominees’ achievements are truly inspiring, and the judges had to make some difficult decisions. The event was a great way to showcase young talent in Mole Valley – of which we have a lot. Thank you Youth Voice for heading up a wonderful evening that raised money for such a worthy cause.”